Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey stepped in and out of line. Star linebacker Von Miller went down with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. And now, Harris is finished with a torn ACL in his left knee.

You got this, Peyton?

“It’s another disappointment for us,” said middle linebacker Paris Lenon. “Somebody else that we’ve been battling with that has been a huge part of this team and this defense that is down.”

An MRI on Monday confirmed Harris’ injury, which finishes his season as the Broncos are about to play the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game this Sunday at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

“It’s terrible news,” said defensive tackle Terrance Knighton.

Maybe not so terrible. Denver’s quarterback is Peyton Manning, who set NFL season records with 55 touchdown passes and 5,477 yards passing. The battered Broncos scored 606 points, another NFL record, while going 13-3 and capturing the top playoff seed in the AFC.

Manning threw for two touchdowns and converted a third-and-17 play while lifting the Broncos to a 24-17 victory over the San Diego Chargers in a second-round playoff game Sunday.

Question is, what is the limit to what Manning can overcome? The Broncos had a 17-0 lead over the Chargers when Harris went down with 8:17 remaining in the third quarter. It was an injury suffered so far away from the ball that the CBS cameras never caught it. Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers completed a 19-yard pass to Keenan Allen along the San Diego sideline as Harris was covering his receiver on the other side of the field. Harris limped off after that play and didn’t return.

It was no coincidence Rivers got hot after Harris left. Rivers led the Chargers to 17 points in the fourth quarter. A third-and-17 conversion by Manning on a 21-yard pass to tight end Julius Thomas with 3:06 remaining might have saved the Broncos from their second consecutive overtime playoff game.

Can Manning score more against the Patriots’ defense than New England quarterback Tom Brady can against the Harris-less Denver defense?

“There’s no doubt that he’s probably one of our better performers on defense throughout the season,” Broncos coach John Fox said of Harris. “We’ve lost some pretty good performers throughout the season. This team has been resilient.”

This team has Manning at quarterback.

A rusty Quentin Jammer replaced Harris on the outside against the Chargers and struggled. The Broncos could consider moving Bailey from the nickel to the outside corner and insert rookie Kayvon Webster into the nickel.

Or they could keep Bailey inside and give Tony Carter another shot at outside coverage.

Fox wasn’t saying Monday what he would do.

“That’s why we practice. We’ll get a chance to form up (Wednesday),” Fox said. “We’ll see where everybody is at that point.”

A restricted free agent after this season, Harris was certain to receive the highest-possible tender from the Broncos. The first-round tender paid $2.879 million last season and figures to go up this year.

“You hate to see (it happen) to a guy having a great year, going into a contract year. I wish him the best,” Knighton said of Harris. “I wish him a speedy recovery, but we just have to focus on the task at hand, and that’s New England.”

Undrafted out of Kansas, Harris received a meager $2,000 signing bonus to join the Broncos as a college free agent in 2011. A case can be made the team has never made a better $2,000 investment.

The Broncos’ five-year, $96 million deal with Manning also has earned a nice return.

One option for coach John Fox in filling in for Harris is putting veteran Bailey back at left cornerback. Bailey injured a foot in the preseason and returned late in the season to play in the team’s nickel and dime defensive packages.

Kayvon Webster

The rookie could be asked to take over for Harris at cornerback or slide into the nickel back spot if Bailey is moved.

Quentin Jammer

The veteran, signed in the offseason, took over Sunday when Harris went out but struggled as San Diego attacked him repeatedly.

On secondary thought

The Broncos have used numerous combinations at six defensive back positions this season:

Mike Klis was with The Denver Post from Jan. 1, 1998 before leaving in 2015 to join KUSA 9News. He covered the Rockies and Major League Baseball until the 2005 All-Star break, when he was asked to start covering the Broncos.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tyreek Hill didn’t know what to do when he started hearing thousands of people in Arrowhead Stadium chanting his name, even as he stood all alone on the frozen turf waiting for the punt.